Political Culture and the Legacy of Socialism in Unified Germany

Abstract

Almost a quarter of a century after German unification, studies continue to uncover pervasive attachments to socialism in the former East. While these attachments have been a recurrent feature in analyses of political culture, surprisingly little is known about their sources. This article systematically explores the socio-political foundations of socialist values, by subjecting two theoretical perspectives to empirical testing. Political socialisation perspectives attribute these values to generationally based political identities that were forged in the pre-1989 era. Political economy perspectives, by contrast, stress how they have been reinforced by negative post-1989 evaluations of politics and materialism. Logistic regression analyses of ALLBUS data from 1991 to 2010 test nine hypotheses at the individual level, with the results confirming the following. First, there is evidence of an age-based structure to the foundations of socialist values: younger easterners are less likely to value socialism, but the evidence of this has emerged only recently. Second, equally important drivers of these values are support for parties on the left of the political spectrum and ideological self-placement. Third, economic factors have been selective and inconsistent predictors of socialist values. Overall, the research underscores the stability of socialist values in the German context, but argues that these values remain compatible with a political culture that is supportive of the democratic framework of unified Germany.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ross Campbell is Senior Lecturer in Political Science at the University of the West of Scotland in the United Kingdom. Having obtained a PhD from the University of Strathclyde, he was post-doctoral fellow at the WZB (Social Science Center, Berlin), where he researched the nature, structure and trajectory of mass attitudes towards democracy. More recently, his research interests have broadened to include the changing repertoire of citizens’ political participation and the structure of political inequality. His recent publications have appeared in European Journal of Political Research, West European Politics, International Political Science Review and German Politics.

Notes

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3. Robert Rohrschneider, Learning Democracy: Democratic and Economic Values in Unified Germany (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999).

4. On the optimistic side, the studies by Weil and Dalton are cases in point. See Frederick Weil, ‘The Development of Democratic Attitudes in Eastern and Western Germany in Comparative Perspective’, in F. Weil (ed.), Research on Democracy and Society, Democratization in Eastern and Western Europe (Greenwich, CT: JAI Press, 1993), and Russell J. Dalton, ‘Communists and Democrats: Democratic Attitudes in the Two Germanies', British Journal of Political Science 24/4 (1994), pp.469–94. On the more sober interpretation, see Oscar Gabriel, ‘Demokratische Einstellungen in einem Land ohne demokratische Traditionen? Die Unterstützung der Demokratie in den neuen Bundesländern im Ost-West-Vergleich', in Jürgen Falter, Oscar Gabriel and Hans Rattinger (eds), Wirklich ein Volk? Die politischen Orientierungen von Ost- und Westdeutschen im Vergleich (Opladen: Leske +Budrich, 2000), pp.41–77.

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6. Ross Campbell, ‘Socialist Values and Political Participation: A Barrier to “Inner Unity”?’, West European Politics 34/2 (2011), pp.362–83.

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54. Zelle, ‘Socialist Heritage'.

55. Carston Hefeker and Norbert Wunner, ‘Promises Made, Promises Broken: A Political Economic Perspective on German Unification', German Politics 12/1 (2003), pp.109–34.

56. In 2007, the PDS (Party of Democratic Socialism) merged with the western Electoral Alternative for Social Justice (WASJ) to form the Left Party (Die Linke). The analyses draw attention to this by using PDS/Die Linke.

57. Peter Doerschler and Lee Ann Banaszak, ‘Voter Support for the German PDS over Time: Dissatisfaction, Ideology, Losers and East Identity', Electoral Studies 26/4 (2007), pp.359–70.

58. Dalton and Weldon, ‘Germans Divided? ', p.20.

59. Dieter Fuchs, ‘Welche Demokratie wollen die Deutschen? Einstellungen zur Demokratie im vereinigten Deutschland’, in Gabriel (ed.), Politische Orientierungen, pp.81–113.

60. See, for example, Ross Campbell, ‘The Sources of Institutional Trust in East and West Germany: Civic Culture or Economic Performance', German Politics 13/3 (2004), pp.401–18; Ross Campbell, ‘Winners, Losers, and the Grand Coalition: Political Satisfaction in the Federal Republic of Germany', International Political Science Review, DOI 0.1177/0192512113505246. Published online 10 December 2013.